Saracens F.C. 2006–07

In the 2006-07 season Saracens F.C. competed in the Guinness Premiership, EDF Energy Cup and European Challenge Cup.

Transfers

With former coach Mike Ford being offered a role in the England set-up, former Leinster, Munster and Australia coach Alan Gaffney was appointed coach for the 2006 campaign. Amongst the new signings was South African, Neil de Kock, a player who was to be influential in what was to be the club's best season since 2000.

This season also saw the long awaited arrival of former Great Britain Rugby League captain, Andy Farrell, initially at flanker, but later at centre, the position at which he went on to take his England debut.

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Union Census Johnston Prop Samoa Aaron Liffchak Prop England Nick Lloyd Prop Scotland Tom Mercey Prop England Cobus Visagie Prop South Africa Kevin Yates Prop England Shane Byrne Hooker Ireland Matt Cairns Hooker England Andy Kyriacou Hooker England Fabio Ongaro Hooker Italy Iain Fullarton Lock Scotland Pelu Pavihi Lock Samoa Simon Raiwalui Lock Fiji Tom Ryder Lock England Hugh Vyvyan Lock England Kris Chesney Flanker England Paul Gustard Flanker England Richard Hill Flanker England David Seymour Flanker England

Player Position Union Ben Russell Number 8 England Ben Skirving Number 8 England Alan Dickens Scrum-half England Neil de Kock Scrum-half South Africa Mosese Rauluni Scrum-half Fiji Alex Goode Fly-half England Glen Jackson Fly-half New Zealand Ross Laidlaw Fly-half England Andy Farrell Centre England Dan Harris Centre England Rodd Penney Centre England Adam Powell Centre England Kameli Ratuvou Centre Fiji Kevin Sorrell Centre England Richard Haughton Wing England Dan Scarbrough Wing England Tevita Vaikona Wing Tonga

Guinness Premiership

As in the previous season, Saracens were narrowly defeated by Wasps in the London double-header at Twickenham at the opening of the season. This was to be followed by what turned out to be a good away draw at Bristol in the context of the excellent season that Bristol would go on to have, before a bonus point win was secured against the Newcastle Falcons. A morale-boosting run of results followed, losing only three times between October and the following March. No individual result could quite produce the reaction that the return of England's Richard Hill to top flight action, with supporters of both clubs giving Hill a huge ovation on his return to the pitch after 18 months of knee reconstruction, capping off his comeback with a try.

Results in the Premiership went Saracens' way, leaving them with the possibility of ending up anywhere from second to fifth as the final round of matches approached. After a day of games almost all of which had significant consequences in terms of positions at the top, and at the foot of the table, Saracens found themselves in the Premiership playoffs for the first time, squeezing Wasps in to a rare 5th place position, out of play-off contention.

The campaign was to end with a heavy defeat away at Gloucester, however, overall the season represented a significant advance on those of recent years. After the end of the season there was to be personal success for Glen Jackson, whose league topping 400 points for the season and consistent high-level performances almost every week saw him awarded the PRA Player of the Year Award by his fellow professionals. On a sadder note the mercurial Thomas Castaignède, one of the most enduringly popular players at the club decided to bring his club rugby career to an end after providing many years of entertainment and rugby at its best both for Saracens and France.

Guinness Premiership Semi-Final: Gloucester Rugby 50 - 9 Saracens

European Challenge Cup

Saracens progressed well in the European Challenge Cup. They qualified for the knockout stages as second seeds, with only an away 6-6 draw at Glasgow spoiling their group stage progression.

A further win at the quarter-final stage against Glasgow saw Saracens host Bath for the semi-final, only to lose to ultimate runners up of the competition.

2006-07 European Challenge Cup Pool 2 Table
Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points for	Points against	Tries for	Tries against	Try Bonus	Losing Bonus	Points
Saracens	6	5	1	0	225	101	30	N/A	4	0	26
Glasgow Warriors	6	4	1	1	204	72	25	N/A	3	1	22
Narbonne	6	2	0	4	127	171	16	N/A	1	1	10
Parma	6	0	0	6	84	296	6	N/A	0	1	1
Reference www.ercrugby.com: Updated 2007-10-29 --- European Rugby Cup

European Challenge Cup Quarter-Final: Saracens 23 - 19 Glasgow
European Challenge Cup Semi-Final: Saracens 30 - 31 Bath Rugby

EDF Energy Cup

Saracens' EDF Energy Cup campaign ended quickly after back-to-back defeats in the opening two games of the group stages, losing away at London Irish and then at home entertaining Cardiff Blues. Some consolation was found in a 'dead rubber' game at Vicarage Road where Wasps were defeated in a game involving many of the younger squad members of both teams.

2006-07 EDF Energy Cup Pool B Table
Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points for	Points against	Tries for	Tries against	Try Bonus	Losing Bonus	Points
Cardiff Blues	3	3	0	0	107	56	11	5	1	0	13
London Irish	3	1	0	2	56	78	7	7	1	0	5
Saracens	3	1	0	2	79	91	6	12	0	0	4
London Wasps	3	1	0	2	58	75	6	6	0	0	4
Reference www.edfenergycup.com: Updated 2007-10-29 --- 2006-07 EDF Energy Cup

Sources

• History of Saracens
• 'The Saracen', Matchday programmes 2006-07

External links

• Official site
• Fansite